Last month, President Bush announced that the United States would put new emphasis on the space program, beginning with a return to the lunar program, and establishing a permanent base on the moon, with the goal of eventually sending men to the red planet--Mars.
For some men, this is almost the stuff of dreams; to have the opportunity to set foot on the surface of the moon, and even more--to see the landscape of the planet Mars with your own eyes! I remember as a boy watching on our black and white television set one of the landings of a lunar module. How thrilling it must have been for the astronaut to see those things that no man had ever seen before!
My father was privileged to help the government track objects such as Skylab in the '70s, and later on, the space shuttle. It seems as if he has always been interested in space, and he passed that interest on to me. We've both wished at times that we could be among those that have had such grand adventures in the blackness of outer-space; and at times, we were, as we read through the pages of some science-fiction novel. But now, there is a call for some to actually do what we'd only dreamed of; and like Columbus, they are to go in search of new lands--but this time over vast reaches of space, rather than the depths of the sea.
All this appeals to the part of man that longs for adventure; and while I, myself, certainly feel the attraction of such a project, I am concerned about why some want to begin it. It's true that space exploration has yielded benefits: many advances in electronics, communication, and weather forecasting would not have come without it. In fact, the image processing technology used in CAT scans and MRI's is a product of the space program; but these are things we've gained along the way--they weren't the motivation. My concern is with the motivation of some that are pushing the project. If we are going simply for exploration, and it's benefits, I understand; but many people, even some Christians, want to go in search of life and it's origins--this, I don't think is useful, and clearly Christians should understand that.
To explain why I believe this, let me begin at the beginning...
We need to understand from the very start that scripture teaches there is only one God. In Deut 4:35, Moses clearly states that Jehovah is God; there is no other besides Him. There are lords and gods all around us--which is to say, there are many things that people will worship today; yet there is only one true, divine God, and He is Jehovah. So, Moses continued in v39, "Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the LORD, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other."
Now, when we say there is one God, scripture also indicates that it is a Godhood, or divine nature. That is why in Col 2:9 we read of Jesus, "...in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form." While the Father is divine, and therefore God, so is Jesus; and in fact, the Holy Spirit is in the same way. That is why, when the apostles were commissioned to teach in Mt 28:19, they were told, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." All three are equal; all three are divine; all three are God.
This is important because this one God made one creation. God created all there is; there is nothing that exists outside of his creation. As scripture says (Jn 1:3), "All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being." If there were any alien life forms, they would certainly fit in this category; they would have been created by God.
You may have heard people say that, "God could have created other planets with intelligent life on them," and this is true. God could have done that; He could have done anything He wanted. For instance, He could have made the moon out of green cheese; but it doesn't matter what He could have done, what matters is what He did. What we find in scripture is that it is the Earth that is central in God's plan. It was created before anything else; and all else was created for it--and in fact, for mankind that would populate it. In Gen 1:14, we read, "God said, 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years...'" The sun, moon, and stars were all created for our good--for the benefit of mankind.
God did create other intelligent life forms, and we read of them in scripture. We see angels, cherubim, and seraphim; but these were not created for living in this universe. As the writer of Hebrews says of the angels (Heb 1:14), "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?" The angels, too, were sent for our benefit, and are spirits--though they have worked among us, they are not intended to live among us; and as the passage read, they were sent, "for the sake of those who will inherit salvation."
This brings us to perhaps the most important point: not only is there but one God and one creation, scripture also teaches that there is only one Savior.
In Heb 2:16-18, we read about Jesus, that "...He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham [in this case, mankind in general, v9]. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren [i.e., mankind] in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted." Jesus is able to be a merciful and faithful high priest since he had to overcome the same obstacles and temptations that we do.
In Heb 7:27 the writer was comparing Jesus to the Jewish high priests, saying that He "...does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself."
The point is that this Savior gave help only to mankind; He did not do so for any other life form, not even to the angels (2:16). Jesus is the perfect high priest, since he offered the perfect sacrifice--Himself--and he only had to do it once for all mankind.
We read in Phil 2:5-11 that Jesus humbled himself by becoming like a man, and because of His obedience--even to the point of dying on the cross--the Father highly exalted Him, in Heaven. That, too, happened only once.
Now, while we might argue at times whether or not there really is intelligent life here on Earth, this much is certain: there is not intelligent life anywhere else in the universe.
It is said that in response to the question as to whether or not there was life on other planets, the late astronomer Carl Sagan replied, "I can give you an argument for the plausibility of extraterrestrial life: lots of planets, lots of organic matter, lots of time for evolution." He continued, "It seems inconceivable that in a galaxy of four hundred billion stars in a universe of hundreds of billions of galaxies, ours is the only inhabited planet. To say so seems so arrogant."
It may seem arrogant; but is it really? I don't think so. You see, it wouldn't matter to me if I were only one creature among billions that God created and took an interest in--because in fact, that is exactly what I am: one single, solitary human among billions more. But, even though it's as if I am nothing among so many, I still know that God cares for me, and that he loves me. He sought me out, to redeem me--one among billions.
And he loves you, in the very same way. It's not arrogant; but it is humbling.
Rather than looking to the solar system and beyond for clues about life and it's origins, we really should be looking to the author of life, God, and to His revealed will for mankind. You see, it is in His Bible that we find not only the answer to those questions, but more importantly, the things that deal with true life: eternal life.
Jesus declared (Jn 5:24), "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." Then in v28,29, "...an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment."
It's that life--that eternal life--that's the most important; and it is found only in Jesus. As is written in Acts 4:12, "...there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."
I don't know what might be found in space. Certainly we will benefit from the by-products of the technology needed to take us there, and there is merit in the space program simply in exploring the farthest reaches of God's creation to better understand it; yet, if our primary motivation is to search for life on other planets so that we can better understand our origins, in many ways, our efforts will be wasted. We need to focus our attention on a far more important search for life--our own eternal life.
